Nigeria Is Doing More With Little: Economist Lauds Buhari’s Economic Policy

A professor of Economics at the University of Abuja, Oyinlola Olaniyi has given a positive outlook of economic growth if steps taken by the federal government are sustained and executed to plan.

Olaniyi, who spoke in an interview with THE WHISTLER, said administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has focused on infrastructural development as the bedrock of economic growth.

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He said Nigeria was facing huge infrastructure deficit in several economic sectors, a situation which he said has slowed down economic growth and increased poverty.

“This government has focused on rebuilding our infrastructure to lift the economy; it is doing more infrastructure at a time we don’t have the money,

“Our economy is dependent on oil and we don’t have enough money because oil sales are not what it used to be in 2010. On the other hand, we have a lot of infrastructural problems that we need to solve so the government is looking at many options.”

According to him, some of the options the government has considered include mandating some big businesses like Dangote to use part of their accrued tax to develop some specific infrastructure and getting concessional loans through concessional windows.

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He condemned those asking the government not to take more loans, stressing that there was nothing wrong in borrowing if the funds are used to finance infrastructure.

“When people argue that we’re borrowing, I don’t know how we can resolve that. Because even when we were making so much money, we were borrowing so much money, and at the end of the day we discovered that the money was not being used for the right things.

“So, unless we don’t want to solve the critical problems, we need to do some borrowing. But we must be sure that these borrowings are not coming from commercial windows.”

The economist expressed optimism for the future of the country, saying the Buhari administration deserve commendation for its prudence.

“I am optimistic about the economy and the country. Honestly, I think we’re doing more with little now in terms of infrastructural development. For instance, many of the roads that started 20 years ago when we had a lot of money and could not be done, have been done now.

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“You will see now that more is being done with little. It is in building infrastructure that we can get out of the mess we’re in. It is not yet uhuru but we’re moving towards it; we’re moving probably faster than we’ve been moving before. If we’re able to solve infrastructural problems the economy will kick off.”

He however, expressed discomfort at the sale of government bonds at interests below the rate of inflation, saying it would discourage Nigerians from buying them.

“We’re putting it around 7 percent while inflation is still around 10 percent and not yet got to single digit. So, if somebody wants to buy govt bond he would probably be buying at an interest that is below the rate of inflation. That would discourage individuals who want to invest in it.

“On the other hand, we’re now encouraging foreigners to bring in the money. And that is hot money. If anything happens, they can quickly take their money by selling the bonds in the secondary market, and that will destabilize the economy, apart from the fact that the service of such debts leads to capital flight.”

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